need a New laptop , and suggestions?

lodi781 · 11-15-2008, 04:44 PM

I want something portable. My last laptop was anHP 17 inch and was like, almost 10 pounds with everything it needed just to run. I don't want a huge laptop, but something I can do some photo editing or downloading while away from my home PC. I wanted to stay with something around the 15- 16" range. Any suggestions? I'd like to stay with a PC by the way, not Mac.

*daacon* · 11-15-2008, 04:56 PM

Dell has some good buys -The Inspiron might meets your needs. Pretty resonable price. THe Studio , Latitude , XPS are the next models up. I bough my Daughter an Inspiron a little over a year ago. 14.1 Screen for collage 9 cell battery. Iit has been great so far. I would advise against the lighter colors. She got yellow (I told her not to) and it does show the dirt pretty good andn it won't come off.

I have a couple laptops but for travel I use my dell D620 14.1 - It meets my needs perfectlly (expecially with a 320GB usb drive I carry). I bought it used actually , slapped some more memory in it and 9 cell battery and for $600.00 total this thing will last me 2 ,3 years !

*Clicker* · 11-15-2008, 06:00 PM

This looks good (currently a HP 6400 series 15" wide notebook user here)

Toshiba Satellite® L305D-S5874 Laptop Computers Specs & Customer Reviews

Don't know if you know of this site to help get some more opinions ...

Notebook and Laptop Reviews

lodi781 · 11-15-2008, 07:08 PM

Thanks for the help. I didn't know you guys went that small. Which is good for me because i would love to get a little 14 inch of 15, but I thought something that small wouldn't be good for photography. I really want something small that I can load up with space for when i'm out putzing around. HP makes some good ones too, but thanks again everyone...

*tybeck* · 11-15-2008, 07:41 PM

I will interject that, in my opinion, an Apple laptop is one of the best Windows laptops you can get. You can have the best of both worlds! The new Macbooks are quite nice.

lodi781 · 11-15-2008, 09:20 PM

The macs are nice, I just can't justify that kind of money right now......

Livewireshock · 11-15-2008, 10:31 PM

Personally, I love my HP 2133 Mini-note.

It is small and very light. The 9.8" screen has great resolution and is not that small for me. Great for taking on the road and carrying in the camera bag. Best of al it is very cheap. I even upgraded to a 500gb drive and it still cost less than a traditional laptop.

The sound is amazing, never needing to use external speakers ever. Great for watching movies or listening to music in hotel rooms when I am on the road. It also has a great sized and feel keyboard and a very tough safe aluminium exterior.

When I need more detail, I plug a bigger monitor in and I am set.

I would recommend using XP with 2GB of RAM and not the totally basic model.

WJW · 11-16-2008, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by lodi781

The macs are nice, I just can't justify that kind of money right now......

Do like I do and watch the Apple Store (online) refurb section. They did have so good deals on the white MacBooks recently.

*gokenin* · 11-16-2008, 08:42 AM

They may not have the name recognition of other companies but I have an Acer Aspire 15.4" laptop and the price is reasonable but again its not a real name brand but aval at circuit city

lodi781 · 11-16-2008, 08:50 AM

I like acer, my buddy has one and he loves it. He found it on newegg.com. ( that place has great deals) I'm gonna check out the hp and others with 14 inch screens. which ever I can load up with the most ram and largest hard drive, wins the contest....

Ahab · 11-16-2008, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by WJW

Do like I do and watch the Apple Store (online) refurb section. They did have so good deals on the white MacBooks recently.

Yes indeedy, thats what I do too and never had a problem.

*Wheatfield* · 11-16-2008, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by lodi781

I want something portable. My last laptop was anHP 17 inch and was like, almost 10 pounds with everything it needed just to run. I don't want a huge laptop, but something I can do some photo editing or downloading while away from my home PC. I wanted to stay with something around the 15- 16" range. Any suggestions? I'd like to stay with a PC by the way, not Mac.

Just do yourself a favour and stay away from Vista. At one time, vendors were offering a "sidegrade" to XP Pro if the user didn't want Vista.
If you must take a Vista machine, my recommendation is to wipe the drive and install XP Pro instead.
And if you get more than 3gb of RAM, make sure you turn on the /3gb switch in the boot.ini file (XP).

Bart · 11-16-2008, 10:06 AM

It depends on what you want to do with it.
If you want to run some 'heavy' programs, be sure to go for enough RAM, powerfull processor and a nice grafic card. Thinking about RAW convertors like DxO for instance or even Lightroom.
How long you plan to use it, would also reflect on the choices to make, I think.
Me, I'm just looking for a laptop as well. Thinking about Dell XPS or HP dv7-1090eb.

lodi781 · 11-16-2008, 08:27 PM

I have xp pro on my home pc, and will use it on my laptop. I wouldn't use this for heavy editing, but it would be nice to be able to check the photos out in the field, and play with them a little. I was also considering a toughbook, since this will be used primarily on the go. I don't know if that would work, i'm still searching.....

hecthetech · 11-16-2008, 11:58 PM

Here's a nice Lenovo laptop made for photographers:
Lenovo ThinkPad W700 for photographers: Digital Photography Review